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Sheffield expansion will create 100 jobs

Sheffield University expects to create 100 academic posts at what it describes
as "the UK's largest multidisciplinary research complex".

The university plans to spend £20 million over the next two years
creating two research institutes on an 18,400m2 site.

The institutes, the Kroto Institute and the Nanoscience and Technology Centre,
are designed to embrace a "new wave of science" in areas such as
nanotechnology, tissue engineering and virtual reality, according to the
university. The bulk of the new posts, in research, will be filled over the
next five years.

Sheffield claims that the development, on a brownfield site that includes the
former government health and safety laboratory, will rival in size and scope
Manchester University's Interdisciplinary Biocentre, scheduled to open this
summer.

George Rees, business development manager for the Sheffield site, which will
become the university's new north campus, said it represented the positive side
of a sector-wide trend towards replacing pure science departments with research
requiring a multidisciplinary approach.

The institutes would be distinctive in that their work would be "purely
multidisciplinary", rather than based in or led by a particular department, he
said.

"The challenge for science and engineering generally is how we allow these
multidisciplinary areas to grow and whether we are prepared to be flexible to
maximise their impact," he said.

"It is not easy for universities to grow rapidly in this area, but with this
development we are trying to make a bold move."

The Kroto Institute, named in honour of the Nobel prizewinning chemist and
Sheffield alumnus Sir Harry Kroto, will focus on a range of research including
futuristic materials, environmental engineering, human tissue growth and
virtual reality for scientific use. The Nanoscience and Technology Centre will
specialise in electronic nanotechnology.

Geof Tomlinson, Sheffield's pro vice-chancellor for research, said redeveloping
the brownfield site, with financial backing from the Science Research
Infrastructure Fund, was the "ideal solution" for the university.

"It means we can locate the campus close to our main campus without incurring
any environmental downside, and the new facilities will position the university
right at the leading edge of multidisciplinary research practice worldwide," he
said.

Mr Rees said that although the Sheffield complex might suggest a rivalry with
Manchester, it was likely that the developments would lead to greater
collaboration.

"We are not trying to operate in isolation. In areas where bio-activity is
strong, such as tissue engineering, I am sure we will be collaborating with
Manchester," he said.